I really hate to burst a bubble here, but very few if any of our elections have been cotillions or genteel. Maybe when George Washington became president, but after that, not so much.
Look at the election of 1800 (scroll down to about the middle of the page). This was just 11 years after the adoption of the Constitution and people were sincerely afraid that the country would be split apart.
A more recent election was the battle in 1884 between
Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine. "Ma Ma, Where's My Pa? Gone to the White House, Ha Ha Ha."
Politics at just about any level involves power, and power, in addition to being the ultimate aphrodisiac, also can make the most rational person into something his or her own mother wouldn't recognize. I don't believe our society is any coarser then it ever was. The only difference now is we have hundreds of professional and non-professional media outlets that need a constant feed of copy, and candidates play to that.
A basic source for American presidential elections is the
History of American Presidential Elections 1789-2008. While most people wouldn't buy the set, it is readily available at most larger libraries.
Best
Rob
What would Lincoln say about the present day elections for President for 2016?
